After lingering for more than a century in storage at the Archaeological Museum of Florence, an historical bronze horse head once owned by Lorenzo the Magnificent is undergoing restoration.
The bronze sculpture, dated from 350 BC, once graced the halls of the Renaissance-era Palazzo Medici Riccardi in central Florence, and has been described as a masterpiece of Greek classical art.
But after it slipped from the grasp of the Medici clan it began to deteriorate as it found its way into the archaeological museum in 1881 where it is now said to be in serious need to restoration.
Researchers at Florence's National Research Council have been investigating problems of conservation and restoration related to such ancient materials as the alloys and gilding used in the bronze horse head.
The work is to be carried out inside the museum and can be viewed by the public during the museum's opening hours until March 8.
After that, it is scheduled to be included in an exhibition titled Power and Pathos at Florence's Palazzo Strozzi, along with other bronzes from the Hellenistic style.
Power and Pathos continues until June 21 before travelling to an exhibition in Los Angeles at the J. Paul Getty Museum and later in the year, at the National Gallery of Art in Washington.
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